Of Gods, Trees, and a Sapling: Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 4

by Adolfo Garza Jr.

  “All’s well that ends well,” Quillan said.

  “Well, we did have plenty of notice.” Sharrah glanced at the bands near her wrists where her skin was pale.

  “The nahual-sense is a blessing,” Korrie said.

  Sharrah frowned. “When it works.”

  “It doesn’t always work?” Quillan raised his brows.

  Sharrah shook her head. “Not always the way we expect. In their nahual patrol reports, Aeron and a couple of the others have mentioned that a nahual will sometimes ‘appear’ suddenly.”

  Chanté pressed his lips together. Due to only having partial memories, he couldn’t recall the specifics of what had caused that flaw in nahual-sense, he just remembered that the resulting terrible defect was due to some oversight of his.

  “You know,” Quillan said and glanced at Korrie, “there was mention of something like that the other night.” He looked back at Sharrah and rubbed his lip with a finger. “So, while on patrol, both dragon and dragonlinked will sometimes suddenly sense a nahual much closer to them than it should be?”

  “Exactly,” Sharrah said. “Normally, a nahual is first sensed at the edge of the ten-mile range as they approach the beast.”

  Quillan frowned. “I see. I wonder why they sometimes seem to suddenly appear?”

  Disgusted with himself, Chanté muttered, “Because that’s when they happen to exit their dens.”

  Chanté!

  It felt as if his heart stopped beating.

  Everyone turned to him.

  “What do you mean?” Sharrah asked. “Are you saying that they somehow ward their dens to avoid detection?”

  Damn, damn, damn! He’d not intended to say that out loud at all! He glanced at the faces staring at him. What should he say? How could he explain this knowledge that they didn’t have?

  “What if—” Quillan moved to stand slightly in front, between them and him. “What if the ground itself somehow interferes with the nahual sense?” He turned to Chanté. “That’s what you mean, right?”

  Eyes wide, Chanté stared at him and nodded.

  Quillan turned back to the others. “What if the amount of soil or rock between you and the creature somehow affects your nahual sense?”

  Sharrah raised her brows. “The farther underground it is, the closer you have to be to sense it?”

  “Or if it’s behind a hill from you, or some such.”

  Sharrah blinked then looked around at the rock walls enclosing the courtyard, the same granite that made up almost the entire Guildhall. “Is that why the nahual-ton wasn’t detected until it was so close?”

  She looked up, out of the courtyard, to the sky. “If Chanté’s theory is true, then daytime patrols are likely a waste of time, and it could mean that places we thought were safe are not.”

  + + + + +

  “At least his part was already complete.” Lord Koen was sitting behind his large desk, near-twin to the false one off to the side. “The plan can proceed according to schedule. More importantly, the police haven’t returned for anything since, have they?”

  Tobin held his anger in check. He, too, was relieved that their plans seemed to remain unknown to the police, but couldn’t this bastard show even a little sorrow over the fact that Astin had been slaughtered?

  He shook his head. “No, sir. They said he was killed by a nahual, and from . . . from what I saw, he was. None have returned with further questions, which shouldn’t be surprising as everything had already been moved out. All they found was my brother’s corpse.”

  That wasn’t entirely true. Some equipment used to mix a small batch as a test was still there while the police were investigating the attack, but he wanted to focus on Astin’s death, wanted some kind of acknowledgment of his loss.

  “I’ll make sure he didn’t give his life for nothing.”

  Tobin hid his surprise. “Thank you, sir.”

  “We can use it for the cause.”

  Tobin blinked and, incredulous, watched the man lift a hand, finger raised in mock anger.

  “‘Not only are we starving, but now we’re being attacked by these fearsome creatures, and still High Lady Hasana does nothing!’” Lord Koen nodded. “Yes. Something along those lines will be perfect.” He glanced at Cadoc. “Let’s get them to add that to the list of grievances.”

  “I’ll modify the script immediately, sir.”

  Tobin pressed his lips together. It wasn’t that he hated the High Lady, but the current state of affairs here seemed to prove that she couldn’t govern this side of the country properly from all the way over in Delcimaar. Still, he disliked some of the ill words being spread about her.

  “Good.” Lord Koen stared at a narrow glass dome sitting on the desk. A key sat within, held in a vertical position by some sort of small stand. “Make sure the cutters and polishers are ready. We should be receiving our much delayed shipment soon.”

  He turned to Tobin. “I want you to know that I understand how you feel and sympathize deeply, but we must proceed according to plan.” He leaned back in the leather chair. “That is all for today.”

  Tobin nodded and turned, heading out of the office. As he approached the door, a large suit of armor to the left of it seemed to stare at him with an empty gaze.

  So. Astin’s death would be used to advance the plan. Would Astin have been happy with that?

  + + + + +

  Aeron watched an eagle ahead of them suddenly dive from its perch in a tall tree, chasing after some kind of prey. It didn’t reappear by the time he and Anaya had passed by, so the eagle must have been successful and was now eating whatever it had captured. Aeron turned toward the east, the direction their patrol took them over Continental Transportation Company’s tracks below.

  It’s been almost a week. Do you have any new impressions of them?

  Anaya beat her wings once and banked to the left, likely toward an upwelling of air. Nantli seems . . . familiar, somehow, though I have never met her before. She is nice.

  And Chanté?

  He seems like any boy. For the most part.

  For the most part?

  He gets anxious around people he does not know.

  I noticed, but I heard he was shy.

  It is not shyness. He worries, but about what, I do not know. I did not think it polite to dig deeper. He feels less anxious around Quillan. They arrived together, did they not?

  Yes, they did. Perhaps we should set up a get-together to introduce ourselves, the other dragonlinked, to him.

  That sounds fun. You will need to coordinate with Polandra and Liara, though. They spend a lot of time at Bataan-Mok.

  Aeron frowned. That’s true.

  He’d heard a little about their efforts to try to find Fala. They hadn’t had much luck, so far. He had thought about offering to help, but they didn’t need another person trampling about down there. Besides, Cirtis and Yiska were helping them already, as were Isandath and the Observers. No, he’d stay up here and enjoy this break from the recent insanity that had culminated with the fight in Daelon’s Plaza a little over a month ago. The finding of Fala was Liara and Polandra’s task, and the Guildmaster was confident of their abilities, as was he. The crazy woman would be found soon, he was certain. Instead, he would focus on helping find and kill nahual and thinking of ways to increase the number of dragonli—

  There are a number of people ahead.

  People? The nearest town wasn’t for miles and miles. Gain some altitude.

  What he saw through the binocs wasn’t good. There were at least twenty people below, working in three teams. One group was doing something to the tracks, another was setting up a big device nearby on a slight rise at the edge of the trees, and the last group looked like it was laying some kind of ward in a large area along the tracks.

  Aeron got a cold feeling in his gut. This is bad. Those look nothing like CTC employees and they don’t look like simple wreckers, either. He lifted the field-glasses to look east along the tracks and then west, but there
were no more people that he could see. Let’s get back to the Guildhall and ask Millinith what we should do.

  Anaya gave an affirmative rumble and took them a bit north. The trees would provide cover for their departure.

  Aeron opened a portal to the Guildhall, and she took them through. He had her set down in the courtyard out front.

  After hopping to the ground, he made for the entrance. Have Itzel tell her I’m on the way to her office.

  It is done.

  He took the steps three at a time, pulled the door open, and bounded inside. As he hurried down the hallway, he tried to think of what those people were up to. It wasn’t simple wrecking.

  “Hi, Aeron.” Renata smiled at him. “You finished your patrol pretty quick.”

  “She should be expecting me,” he said, trying to catch his breath.

  “Actually, she’s not here. She went to meet with the smiths.”

  “Paper and pencil, then,” he said. “And hurry.”

  Brows drawn together, she handed him the requested items.

  He sketched the layout of the area, noting as best he could remember where the machine and ward were in relation to the tracks.

  “What is that?” Renata asked. “What happened?”

  “We ran across a large group of people.”

  “Aeron.” Guildmaster Millinith walked in. “Itzel said Anaya sounded worried. What’s going on?”

  “I’m not sure, but look at this.” He handed her the sketch. “There were close to twenty people working around the tracks. We got no notice of any work being done there, and besides, they don’t look like CTC employees. They were doing something at the tracks here,” he tapped on the drawing as he spoke, “and were working on some kind of ward in this area. They were also setting up a device there.”

  She frowned. “Were the tracks damaged in any way?”

  “Not that I could see.”

  “Hmm. So what are they up to?” She twirled a lock of hair around a finger.

  Aeron shook his head. “I don’t know, but I got a bad feeling watching them.”

  “I’ll contact Continental Transportation, let Lord Eldin know what you found. He’ll likely want our assistance ferrying security personnel there to discover exactly what is going on.” She turned to Renata. “Find out who’s not on patrol right now and let me know. Have them gather with their bond-mates in the courtyard out front.”

  Renata nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Aeron followed Guildmaster Millinith into her office. She pulled over the ether writer and began scribbling a message on it, faint clicking coming from the stylus.

  “Head to the courtyard, if you would, Aeron.” She read over something on the ’writer. “Have everyone wait until I get there.”

  “On my way.” He headed out.

  What did she say?

  We’re going to help Lord Eldin get people over to that spot. Then we’ll see about catching these wreckers. Or whatever they are.

  Aeron trotted down the hallway. With that many people and all that equipment, they must have used horses and wagons to get there. He didn’t recall seeing any, though, so they must have been tied up under some nearby trees, likely near the machine they were building. If he could spot the horses through the trees and put a barrier around them, then none would be able to get to them to flee. On foot, those people would be easy to capture.

  He smiled. None of those wreckers would escape.

  + + + + +

  “I’d be honored if you joined me for a cup of coffee. There’s a nice cafe in the Whispering Boughs.”

  Lips pressed together, she watched the conversation taking place on the other end of the passenger car, but refrained from approaching them.

  “If I say yes,” the girl said, “will you stop pestering me?”

  “Pestering? You wound me, miss.”

  The girl, smiling, said, “Fine. After we’re done with this shipment.”

  He bowed his head slightly. “I look forward to it.”

  When the guard left the car by the rear door, the girl turned to the other sorcerers near her and giggled—giggled!—before they all started talking in whispers.

  She raised her brows. Not so aloof after all.

  She looked back at the door he’d left through. Of all the guards and soldiers, he was the best-looking. Even so, she tried not to entangle herself with those things. Relationships tended to interfere with her job.

  And speaking of which, had he returned to his post? She stood and began another inspection round to verify that everyone was at their stations. Things had gone fairly smoothly so far, and she wanted to keep it that way. The loading a day ago had proceeded without incident. She hoped it would be the same all the way to the mint.

  It seemed the guard had indeed returned to his post. She nodded to him in passing and continued her walk. All looked well.

  She stepped into the first armored car and began her ritual of examining the large crossbow and its hatch. Everything remained in order in that car, the middle car with the cargo, and the last car with the other armaments. Good, good, and good.

  Heading back to the front, she’d just reached the first passenger car when the emergency braking chimes sounded. The train jerked violently, throwing a few people from their feet. The chimes having warned her, she managed to stay on hers.

  Why in hells were they stopping?

  She ran forward to the engine car and threw open the door. “What happened?”

  A large pulse of magic came from outside as the conductor pointed out the front window. “The tracks suddenly ripped from the ground ahead of us. I had to use the emergency braking system.”

  Sure enough, in the tracks ahead, two forty-foot sections of rail were missing from each side, leaving the wooden ties bare. The metal rails lay bent and twisted to the side. Grabbing a pair of binocs, she scanned the trees nearby. There were people there, watching.

  “Yrdra’s pissing tits,” she muttered.

  Turning to the conductor, she said, “Sound the under siege alarm. Now!”

  The discordant chimes began ringing over and over all up and down the train. Shouts and the pounding of feet soon followed.

  She pulled out the ’writer and began a hasty message.

  + + + + +

  Doronal walked in the office door. “Itzel told Huemac about Aeron’s discovery at the tracks. How can I help?”

  Millinith glanced at him. “We’ll need assistance ferrying CTC personnel over. Lord Eldin wants us to take a number of his people there.”

  His eyes went flat a moment and he nodded. “We’re ready. Well, once I get changed.” He turned to leave.

  “Set out my gear, too. I’ll be there shortly.”

  He nodded as he passed out the door.

  She sighed.

  Lord Eldin had wanted to take as many of his own people as Aeron had seen there, twenty, but she’d had to convince him otherwise. Polandra, Liara, and Fillion were not here, and while it turned out that no one was on patrol, that still only left Aeron, Willem, Renata, Jessip, Gregor, Doronal and herself to ferry people over. At three to a dragon—including the dragonlinked—that meant Lord Eldin could only send fourteen of his own. He’d not been happy about it, but once she reminded him that the dragonlinked and their dragons would be available to assist, he came around.

  The initial plan was to get his people there to see what the situation was before taking any action, which was prudent. His team would be ready in another ten minutes. That gave her enough time to get changed.

  As she left her back office, Adept Liflin walked in from the hallway.

  “Good,” she told him, “you’re here. Keep an eye on things, will you?”

  He nodded fiercely. “Absolutely. You know I’ll do my best. And you all take care out there. Dragons are big and all, but . . .” He frowned. “Just, please be careful. Who knows what those people are up to?”

  The young man was right, of course. She smiled at his worried energy and turned to Renata. “Is ev
eryone ready?”

  “Yes, ma’am. They’re waiting in the courtyard. I’m on my way now.”

  “I’ll meet you all there.” She headed for her rooms, feeling a little anxious.

  Even with as many people as they were taking, what had happened at the fight in Daelon’s Plaza was a stark reminder that dragons and dragonlinked could be harmed. There had been far fewer than twenty manisi fighting them and look how close they’d come to losing Anaya.

  This will be fun.

  Millinith scowled. How will this be fun?

  Almost all of us will be working together.

  That will be nice, I agree, but as I was just reminded, we don’t know what those people are up to. I don’t like going in blind.

  We are strong, and we will not be alone.

  Millinith grunted. That was true enough, but it did nothing to lessen her worry.

  Doronal turned to her as she walked in. “I set everything out on the bed.”

  “Perfect. Thank you.” She quickly stripped off her tunic, shirt, and pants and began slipping on the riding gear. “They’re all waiting in the courtyard for us.”

  He was staring at her, a little smile curving his lips.

  “What?”

  “Just enjoying the view.”

  She grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. “You’re terrible. I’m trying to think about the coming encounter, you know.” She sat and began tying her boot laces.

  And yet, you like it.

  Mayhap. But don’t you dare tell him, Itzel.

  Doronal chuckled. “Everyone’s ready and waiting.”

  Humor came through the link. I think he knows.

  Millinith frowned up at Doronal, but a smile tugged at her lips. “Let’s go.” She stood, grabbed her riding jacket, gloves, and cap, and headed to the den where Itzel and Huemac waited.

  She was in the courtyard less than five minutes later, pacing back and forth before the assembled dragonlinked. “Lord Eldin has requested our assistance in ferrying over his people to the site Aeron located.”

  She stopped and faced them. “For now, the plan is to do that, and only that. His people will be initially responsible for discovering what is going on down there. Understood?”